Ex-Pat's Credit Rating

Factual Questions
1

I’m moving to Australia this summer …

Here’s my question:

Will my credit rating in Canada be taken into consideration in Australia when applying for credit cards, a mortgage, etc.?

How would they know if they should lend to to me or not?

2

What kind of professional should I contact for a definite answer (should none be given here)?

My Immigration Attorney says it’s not her field. All she had to say was that good/bad credit shouldn’t affefct my immigration.

Lovely. Who’s next on my #011-613 call list?

3

A wild guess, and some leads.
The guess, is that like most UK -> US immigrants, your credit history will NOT transfer over whatsoever from one country to another. This is based on my readings on www.creditnet.com -> discussion forums.
Some leads:
Call Equifax, Experian and Transunion. Ask them. At least one of those has an overseas presence.
Visit the below URLs, and call the associated phone numbers:
www.equifax.com
www.experian.com
www.transunion.com

4

In a sick way … If I were to declare bankruptcy right now … It would have no effect … according to everything I understand.

:rolleyes: As long as I don’t come back to Canada, with my tail between my legs, that is!

5

I can tell you that when I moved to the US in 1993, my credit history did not follow. I had a brand new Social Security number, which means a “virgin” credit file. This is bad, because the first reaction of creditors is “you went bankrupt and changed your Social Security number to try and change it”.

I used a two-pronged approach to get credit in the US.

  1. I applied for every no-fee credit card I could find. When the rejection letter came, if there was a name and title on the rejection letter (as opposed to “Credit Department” or some such), I wrote a letter to the name & title on the card explaining my situation. My letter included an explanation of why I moved to the US, a recent copy of a Canadian credit report, telephone number of a bank manager in Canada where I held accounts, and a few other things. This was many pages long, but I tried to summarize what I figured were the most important details on the front page - the rest was just to backup what I wrote. After about 20 application, I got approval (from a very large issuer, BTW).

  2. I found a used car in good shape, NADA wholesale value $12,000. I shopped around at banks, bringing the car with me (it was a private sale, owner let me take it for a day) and my packet of paperwork (same as sent to credit card companies). At each bank, I asked to talk to the manager. I asked for a loan of $8000, which should be a no-brainer given the car was worth way more than that. The first two rejected me. The third, a small bank with only one branch, accepted. The manager was also the bank president, so he had a little more say on how things went.

BTW, I had similar problems with apartments. Landlords that use management companies (i.e. 95% of them) won’t deal with you, because you aren’t talking to the owner. If they ask for an application fee, consider it lost if you pay it, because you won’t qualify. I looked around until I found an apartment building with hands-on management. In hindsight, these are easy to find. Look for an apartment building in exceptional condition.

Once I got the credit card and car loan (they happened approximately simultaneously), within a few months I was getting burried in unsolicited credit offers.